


Donum Vita

by love_in_the_stars



Series: Snapshots [18]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel just wants to cuddle with Dean and does not care about Gabriel's problems, Dean is not suprised, However the creature does not approve of Gabriel, M/M, Nor is Gabriel, Sam is adopted by a mythical creature, Sam is highly amused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-19
Updated: 2011-04-19
Packaged: 2017-12-06 16:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/737801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_in_the_stars/pseuds/love_in_the_stars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam finds a phoenix or rather, it finds Sam.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Donum Vita

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #29: Sun  
> Spoilers: Gabriel?  
> Warnings: Writer's liberty with mythology

"How the fuck, Sammy?" Dean hadn't sounded this incredulous since he first heard Bobby Singer suggest angels could exist.

"I have no idea."

"No, seriously. _How_?"

Sam sighed and rubbed a palm over his face. "I don't know, Dean."

They both stared down at the creature on Sam's bed, surrounded by the ashes left over from the blankets Sam had tried to use to hold it.

It was a phoenix.

Sam had found a fucking phoenix, of all things. And for some strange reason it had become very attached to him.

"What the Hell is it about you that draws these fucking things?"

Sam threw him a bitch-face and debated bringing up Dean's epic, totally-not-as-secret-as-he-thinks-love for Castiel but in the end decided it wasn't worth it. He's sort of saving that revelation for when Dean finds out he's been dating, in a way, Gabriel. And won't that be fun?

Sam shakes the thought away and focuses on the current problem instead. The phoenix is beautiful, no doubt there. It's about the same size of a barn owl with brilliant red-gold feathers that randomly burst into fire like the popping of embers on wood. It gives off heat like a mini-furnace and their motel room feels about 80 degrees.

Somehow it had followed them here and after sparking its way into their room, neither Sam or Dean could bring themselves to shoot it, the mystic bird had settled down on Sam's bed like it belonged there. When Sam tried to move it using a blanket as a buffer, the fabric had simply gone from blanket to ash the moment it touched the phoenix.

Honestly, they were both at a complete and utter loss over what to do. It was a goddamn _phoenix_ , before today neither brother even spared a thought toward the existence of such creatures.

"Maybe you should call Cas?" Sam suggested, knowing that something needed to be done before the creature imploded. If that part of the mythology was correct anyway, which Sam had no reason not to think it was.

"Yeah, okay." Dean turned to grab his phone and jabbed a finger toward the flaming bird. "Don't let it near my stuff!" he warned before backing out the door.

Sam's eyes rolled and he waved the other off. He heaved a sigh and pulled out one of the table chairs to plop down and stare at the phoenix. It watched him right back, the red eyes were serenely intelligent and Sam found himself smiling with gentle wonder. He never could have imagined being so privileged as to witness a living, breathing bird of rebirth. Honestly, not even finding a genuine unicorn would make him happier.

The sound of a light snap and the subtle flap of wings alerted Sam to the arrival of their two angels and he turned in his seat to greet them both, only to find Gabriel and Castiel staring at the phoenix with visible awe.

"Wow, Sammy." Gabriel mused, "you really don't do anything by halves."

Sam blinked, uncertain as to if that was a good thing or not. "What do you mean?"

"The phoenix never show themselves to humans, not intentionally. The only reason the myth of them exist is because of stolen glimpses of things most humans would pass off as dreams." Castiel stated simply.

"So why is it here then?" Dean asked as he returned from outside.

Gabriel looked down at the fiery bird and smirked. "I'll give you one guess."

The phoenix cooed with a sound like many tiny bells and flapped its flaming wings happily, all the while looking at Sam.

"You're kidding me." Sam said flatly.

"We are not joking." Castiel assured him. "This particular phoenix indeed appears to be quite taken with you."

Dean snorted and leaned against the wall. "I'm honestly not even surprised anymore. All we need now is a unicorn and we'll be all set."

Sam internally winced at the repeat of his own thoughts and shook his head. "So, what do we do?"

"Do about what?" Gabriel asked as he flopped down next to the phoenix as if he owned that particular bed.

"About the phoenix." The 'you idiot' went unspoken but they all heard it anyway.

"There's nothing you can do. It's attached and won't want to be leaving anytime soon. One thing you can't do is make a phoenix do something it doesn't want to."

"What? We can't keep it! It's a bit noticeable don't you think?" Dean snapped.

Gabriel shrugged, "It's like Cas said, the phoenix aren't seen unless they want to be."

"We can't take care of a mythical bird, Gabriel!" Sam said, exasperated as he got up and warily approached the bed. The bird watched him, completely unconcerned and when he sat down, it trilled and launched itself at him. Sam tried to flail away but surprise shocked him still when the bird landed on his lap and the fire licked over his skin and clothes without injury. He let out a stuttered breath and gently cradled the phoenix in his arms as it rubbed itself happily against him.

"Holy shit." he heard Dean mutter from behind but Sam was too busy staring at the creature to bother looking at his brother.

He was _holding a fucking phoenix_. Sam slowly lifted eyes to look at Gabriel and the archangel was smiling softly, content in every line of his body as he lounged beside Sam.

"So what are you going to name it, Sammy?"

Sam blinked over at his brother as Dean settled down onto his own bed while Castiel stood beside it trying, and failing, to not look like he wanted to be sitting beside Dean. "What?"

"Well, I figure if you're going to keep it then you'd do something girly like name it right? So give at least give it something badass, alright?"

Sam rolled his eyes but gave it some honest thought. After a moment he smiled. "Vita."

"Vita?" Dean wrinkled his nose, "Isn't that latin?"

"Yeah, means 'life'."

Dean heaved a put-upon sigh and waved a dismissive hand at him. "Whatever floats your boat, man."

Sam looked at Gabriel and the angel shrugged. "Works for me."

"So, how long do these things live for then?" he wondered aloud.

"Anywhere from 500 to 1,000 years." Castiel said promptly.

"Oh, so I don't have to worry about it imploding anytime soon then?"

"Nah, this one is young yet." Gabriel said, scooting closer to Sam and trying to get his arm around the human's waist. Sam shot a look toward Dean, who still wasn't paying any attention, but before he could elbow the angel back to the other side of the bed, Gabriel yelped and jerked away.

"It pecked me!"

Sam, Castiel and Dean all turned to stare at him. "What? It fucking stung alright?"

The phoenix was actually giving Gabriel the stink eye, you could practically see the 'don't touch my human' vibes coming from the bird. Sam couldn't help his snicker and Gabriel glared sullenly.

"Oh, I'm glad you find this so funny Sam."

Sam tried to wave away his mirth and shrugged helplessly before reaching out a hand toward the angel. Gingerly and suspiciously, Gabriel accepted and the phoenix sparked brighter in warning, the feeling like a tingle across Sam's skin. With an angry glower, Gabriel obeyed with a few mumbled enochian curse words. Then Dean was laughing and pointing at Gabriel.

"Dude! You just got cockblocked by a bird!"

Gabriel's scowl deepened and he glared at Sam but the youngest Winchester was busy dealing with the realization that Dean apparently already knew about them. Huh, well that was one less thing to worry about. So Sam smiled and looked down at the phoenix.

"Vita." he said calmly, "If you want to stay with me then you need to behave, okay? That means no pecking anyone unless I say it's okay." Because having this thing around to chase Gabriel off when he's being obnoxious might just be the best thing to ever happen.

Vita stared at him for a long moment before trilling softly and nuzzling further into Sam. This time Gabriel's touch was allowed, though the angel still looked annoyed.

When Sam woke up the next morning Dean and Castiel were snuggling in the next bed, he had a phoenix in his arms and Gabriel wrapped around him. All in all, it was a pretty damn nice way to wake up.


End file.
